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mpetition law issues may occur in any arbitration within the European Union no matter it is a domestic arbitration or an international arbitration in which involves EU states as parties.

What is competition law?

The concept of competitive markets endorses by economists. The idea brings about an optimal allocation of resources by allowing consumer to purchase their desired quantity of goods at a clearing price through the most efficient producers. Unfortunately, this process could disrupt by cartels who either artificially inflated the prices or manipulating the supply. [7]

Competition law regulates company conduct and manages the issues of market concentration as well as dominance. It essentially prohibits abuse of market power and anti-competition agreements with object to distort or prevent competition by way of price fixing, market sharing, quota restriction and joint boycotts. Infringement may attract imposition of pecuniary penalties up to 10% of the world-wide turnover of the group for every single year, plus disgorgement of illegal gains provided there is continued infringement. [8] Regarding personal liability, individual directors of the group may subject to disqualification order. [9]

2.1 The Development of Competition Law in Hong Kong

Historically, Hong Kong adopted a piecemeal approach concerning competition control. [10] At the outset, in 1996, the idea of competition law was introduced by Consumer Council which aimed at resisting restrictive practices and firmly established domestic cartels considered the excessive earning of the local dominant players. [11] However, no all-embracing competition law had enacted in HK. Yet there was protestations and criticism by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), plus anti-trust statutes are enacted in most of the Asia economies.

Only telecommunication and broadcast sectors are governed by specific competition law in which agencies are empowered to oversight and regulate the sector’s behavior, the change of ownership and the assertion of dominance. Private companies, in most situations, confront no legal sanction for their hard-cord cartel activities. The introduction of competition regulation must sit uneasy with the business dominated polity of Hong Kong. Obviously, the sector-by-sector model is out-dated and its discretionary competition regulation is untenable. [12]

Owing to the rapid developments of the international in competition law as well as the change of mainland policy which making slow and careful movement towards a comprehensive anti-trust law, plus the competitive pressures of globalization and the growth of consumerism, HK, being one of the most modern economies, is eventually set its pace in embracing market-friendly policies and making competition law a key point within its policy.

Following the publication of the long-awaited Competition Bill by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) in early July 2010, the bill will be submitted for consideration by the Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (Legco) in 2010 to 2011 session. The bill, resemble to other major developed jurisdictions (for instance, the UK, the European Union and Australia) and Mainland China’s Anti-Monopoly Law, has a delicate chance to pass into “Competition Ordinance” by middle 2010.

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